Taxes – Update

I thought that the responses to the poll were interesting. There’s a pretty wide-spread approach to how people prepare their taxes. I decided to plunk down $20 and purchase U-file. It took me a little while before I actually got around to installing it. I may have been thinking that the longer I hold out, the better it’ll be… because I was pretty sure that I was going to owe Revenue Canada some money… and guess what?

I was right!

Remember the days of actually getting money back? I think they called that a refund, didn’t they? Some of you may be more familiar with that word than I am. These days, I’m better acquainted with the empty your pockets approach. Yes, it’s partly my fault. I really don’t put much effort into trying to maximizing my deductions. RRSPs would be a great start. I always seem to have an excuse as to why I’m not contributing into them… my favourite one is “I don’t have any money!”

Well I think I’d better start making sure that I have money, because now it’s tax time, and guess what? I still don’t have any money! Yet now I have a tax bill! At least if I was contributing into my RRSP account, I wouldn’t have any money, nor would I have a bill, perhaps I’d have a refund, AND I’d have something to live off of when I retire.

Because I don’t know if my parents know this yet, but my retirement plan consists primarily of disguising myself as a retired greyhound and trying to get adopted. That one’s for you Mum, enjoy!